Thought controlled robotic arm
“They’ve found that it is possible for a person to mentally control a robotic limb in three-dimensional space.”
Category Archives: Health
Prayer and Numbers That May Surprise You
May 3rd is National Day of Prayer here in the U.S. For me, every day is a day of prayer. And I’m not alone. Not by a long shot.
In Michigan, 56% pray at least once a day and 76% pray at least once a week according to the 2008 Pew Forum Religious Landscape Survey. And in the U.S. as a whole the numbers are about the same: 58% daily and 75% weekly.
Now let’s do a little math here to make this more meaningful. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Michigan’s population is just under 10 million. Which means that over 5.5 million of us in Michigan pray at least once a day, and over 7.5 million of us in Michigan pray at least once a week. And nationally, with over 308 million this translates into 178 million daily and 232 million weekly.
When laughter administers love to the heart
He shared a video of one of his house calls to a poor woman in another country who was very ill and in much pain. Using his humor, despite a language barrier, he had her sitting up, smiling, laughing, and singing. It was apparent that she experienced some relief from her suffering. This was part
Celebrating World Health Day
Two older gentlemen were just coming off the 18th hole at the golf course as I and my playing partners walked to the clubhouse before beginning our round. The one closest to us shared that his playing partner, although a little older than him, had won the round – and, oh, by the way, his playing partner was 95 years old.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has established Saturday, April 7, 2012 as World Health Day. The theme this year is: “Good health adds life to years”.
A study¹ published in The American Journal of Public Health in 1997 found that frequent religious attendance reduced mortality (adds years to life).
But the theme here is not to add years to life, but to add life to years. One very obvious and central way to add life to years (as well as to add years to life) is to achieve better health. But adding life to years involves much more than that.
Daylight Savings Time and spirituality
(Photo courtesy of Flickr.com user ckaiserca)
A recent study found that sleep problems were noted after three-day weekends and Spring and Fall Daylight Savings time changes. Research has found that spirituality can help.
Daylight savings time (DST) was first conceived by Benjamin Franklin. Germany and England were the first countries to formally adopt DST. It was first enacted in the U.S. in March 19, 1918 with a law entitled, “An Act To save daylight and to provide standard time, for the United States.”
Music and health – really?
(Courtesy of flickr user Labanex)
Cancer patients were provided with 30 minutes of culturally appropriate music to relieve pain. This provided a level of 50% pain relief in 42% of the music group compared to 8% in the control group.
This from a 2010 randomized controlled trial¹ conducted at the Fooyin University School of Nursing in Taiwan.
60 Minutes, Placebos, and an Impossible Study
Explosive! That’s how correspondent Lesley Stahl described it.¹ And a study on the implications it raises for all drug-based therapy would be impossible – or would it?
“Beam me up, Scotty”
Picture courtesy of Flickr user javacolleen
“McCoy’s syndrome” is defined, in an article¹ in a leading medical journal called The Lancet, as an excessive faith in medical technology (especially imaging), an absence of clinical reasoning and a lack of making emotional connections with the sick. The problem: frequent misdiagnosis.
Technological equipment in medicine helps physicians do their job better. But there can be a temptation to rely excessively or exclusively on a test result or image scan.
TRICORDER (Picture courtesy of Flickr user ted.sali)
The reference to McCoy’s syndrome is based on the fictional character named Dr. McCoy on a TV show called Star Trek in which the doctor diagnosed patients using a medical “tricorder” that scanned the patient and eliminated any need to discuss things with the patient or examine them any further. Take a reading, get a diagnosis.
But in real life, medical machinery today doesn’t accomplish this. And it may never do so. And one reason for this is that there is a mental component to health.
Expertise and placebo research in Italy
Roman Forum (picture courtesy of Flickr.com user Mshai)
I remember walking around the city of Rome many years ago and seeing the impressive stone ruins – the remains of government buildings in the old Roman Forum – and thinking that they really were advanced for that time period. The Roman Forum “has been called the most celebrated meeting place in the world, and in all history.”¹
In my previous post I looked at an almost lighthearted but curious case of how extensive knowledge of anatomy commonplace in Italy seems to result in a winter disease unique to them. This gives an example of how thought can have an impact on health.
But in all seriousness, Italy is very much at the forefront of some significant research on a mind-body connection. For example, a search on “placebo AND research AND italy” (in the search bar) at pubmed.gov (which stores abstracts containing the results of clinical studies) yields 1,901 results.